Spirit Crossing
by Catgirl the Crazy
Summary: Sequel to the Mystery of Kanzaka Manor. Not long after defeating L, Lina and co find themselves in a disturbingly familiar situation. Trapped in an inn by a storm, strange ocurrances make them wary. Could this really be a coincidence? LG/AZ DISCONTINUED
1. Part 1

**Part 1**

"WHAT?!" Gourry, Zelgadis, and Amelia cringed in unison at the sound of Lina's angered cry. Loud murmurings came from all corners of the inn as the occupants stared at the enraged sorceress.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE ANY ROOMS LEFT?!" she shrieked.

The poor clerk at the desk cowered and flinched. "I-I'm sorry miss, but they're all taken."

"THEN KICK SOMEONE OUT! I DON'T CARE, JUST GET ME A ROOM!"

The clerk flinched again and said in a small voice, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Maybe another inn will have room…?"

This attempt at placating the red haired sorceress back fired horribly. You could almost the steam shooting out of her ears. Many patrons made a hasty getaway for the safety of their rooms as her renewed shrieks of fury shook the inn walls.

Gourry sighed. "I'd better go stop her before she kills the poor guy." Amelia and Zelgadis watched him make his way across the room like hero going of to die on some hopeless suicide mission.

The swordsmen tapped Lina on the shoulder.

"Not now Gourry, I'm busy," she grunted. "Busy" in this case apparently meant holding the unfortunate desk clerk in a headlock. Said clerk was already planning a new job search.

"Come on Lina, it's not his fault all the inns are completely booked." Lina ignored him. Gourry changed tactics. "Besides, sleeping outside won't be that bad." In a flash, he suddenly found himself having traded places with desk clerk.

"NOT THAT BAD?!?!" Lina screeched. "THE WORST STORM IN NEARLY HALF A CENTURY IS COMING TONIGHT AND YOU SAY IT'LL BE 'NOT THAT BAD'?!?!"

"-Gack- Can't! Breathe!"

"5 silver pieces says she kills him," a mousy haired young boy in the corner whispered to his friend.

"Who, the blond or the clerk?"

"Both."

"Deal."

Zelgadis grumbled and rubbed his temples. How did they get into these kinds of situations?

Amelia sweat dropped. "Umm… don't you think we should stop her Mr. Zelgadis?"

"I choose life" was the flat reply. She couldn't argue with that.

* * *

_Later…_

After much painful persuasion (emphasis on the painful part), the three of them finally managed to get Lina to calm down.

"Calm" being a relative term in this case.

"I don't believe it! How can every inn in this whole stinking town be completely full?!" she ranted angrily as they walked down Main Street.

"People are probably trying to find shelter for night, just like we are," Amelia pointed out. "They just beat us to it."

Lina shot her a glare. "I know that! I'm just trying to vent some steam here!"

"We're still left with the problem of finding somewhere to stay," said Zelgadis. "Personally, I don't care to spend the night outside either."

Lina the fountain in the town square, cursing life in general.

"Erm… excuse me…" Lina felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around to see an elderly woman standing behind her. The woman coughed.

"Excuse me Miss, but I heard that you people have been looking for a place to stay, am I right?"

Lina blinked. "Yeah, we were."

"I realize that the inns are all full," the woman continued, "But there's an abandoned mansion just outside the town. Perhaps you coul spend the night-"

"NO!" all four of them said at once. The old woman looked taken aback by their outburst.

"What's wrong-?"

"We've..." Lina paused, "had bad experiences with abandoned mansions." That much was true. It was only a few weeks ago that they'd just barely managed to escape L's mansion alive. None of them was eager to repeat the experience.

The woman gave her a puzzled look. "If you say so…"

"Please ma'am, do you know of any other place we could stay?" Amelia asked, her eyes pleading.

The old woman looked troubled. "Well….. There's another inn, not far from here, but I really don't think-"

"Another inn?!" Lina grabbed the woman by the shoulders, a slightly crazed looked in her eye. "Where is it?! Where?! Where?!" The woman fidgeted uncomfortably. "Tell us!"

"It's just a couple miles north of here, but-"

"ALRIGHT!" Lina and Gourry jumped up and down joyfully and did a little dance. "No sleeping on the wet ground for us!" Lina cheered, pumping her fist.

"And good food too!" Gourry added happily. Amelia, Zelgadis, and the old woman collectively sweatdropped as the two off them started to do a happy little jig.

"Hey lady!" Lina suddenly jabbed a finger at the old woman, who jumped. "You're gonna show us exactly where this place is!"

"Is that it?!" Lina pointed at the old building in front of them. "Huh?! Huh?! Is it?!?!"

The old woman sighed, looking resigned. "Yes, that's it."

"Woohoo!" Gourry and Lina cheered, charging through the door. Their companions slowly moved to follow them.

"Something wrong Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, noticing her troubled expression.

"Hmm? Oh, I was just getting weird feeling about this place." She shook her head. "It's probably just my imagination."

The old woman watched them go with an expression both troubled and pensive. "Good luck to you," she said softly, shaking her head. "Cepheid knows you'll need it if the legends are true."

* * *

Lina cupped her hands to her mouth. "Hellllllllllllooooooooo? Anybody home?" she hollered. There was no response. 

"This place looks pretty abandoned," Gourry observed. Cobwebs were everywhere. There were no lights other than the light spell Lina had cast when they first came in.

"This place gives me the creeps," Amelia shivered and unconsciously took a step towards Zelgadis.

"Do you think the woman was lying?" he asked.

"Now that you mention it, she _was_ acting kind of strange," Gourry added.

"Yeah, but why would she lie to us?" Lina asked. "Besides, I got more of the impression that she just didn't wanna tell us about this place."

Gourry frowned. "Why would she not wanna tell us about this place?"

Lina shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she was the owner of a rival inn or something. But honestly, who cares? The important thing is, now we've got somewhere to stay." She grinned.

"Oh? So you wish to stay at this inn?" a raspy voice queried. Right next to Lina's ear.

"WAAAUGH!" Startled, Lina jumped backwards, crashing into Gourry. "Ow..." all of them stared. The voice's owner was an elderly man, older than anyone they had ever seen before. His thin, bony frame and gaunt, pinched face gave him an eerie resemblance to an animated corpse.

"So you wish to stay at the inn?" he rasped again.

"Wha-? Oh, er, yeah, we do," Lina stuttered.

The corpse-man nodded. "Very well then." He beckoned them over to a counter. "My fees are quite reasonable," he added, pulling out an ancient looking leather bound book and a box that made a jingling noise when he set it down on the counter.

Lina knew better than to take his words at face value. Businessmen of all trades often said that but rarely meant it. She was surprised to discover the costs were much less than she expected.

After paying, the man led them upstairs to their rooms. When he finally went back downstairs, Gourry let out a deep breath.

"Phew! That guy sure is creepy."

Amelia nodded vigorously. "I know! He looks like one of the living dead!"

"That storm had better clear up by tomorrow morning," Lina grumbled. "If I spend too long in this place it would drive me insane." _Maybe I can get some extra bandit hunting in before nightfall?_ she thought. She glanced out the window. Already the sky had turned dark, though the sun wouldn't set for another few hours. _Ok, maybe not._

"From what I've heard," said Zelgadis, "It's supposed to clear up sometime early next morning. We should be able to get back on the road then."

"Good," Lina grinned. _Only one night in this creepy place! Awesome!_ "Right then, I've got a few things I need to do, so I'll be seeing you guys later for dinner." She went into her room.

"Same here," Zelgadis added vaguely

"I think I'm going to take a bath," Amelia added to no one in particular, before making her way to the bathroom.

Gourry looked around somewhat bemusedly, before shrugging and going downstairs for something to eat.

* * *

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_I still haven't died, so stop worrying about me. I'm fine. _

That was how she always started her letters to home. Sprawled on the bed on the stomach, Lina sucked on her quill, wondering what to write next. She'd never been very good at writing letters. When she'd first started traveling, her letters to home had been sporadic at best. It wasn't long before Lina received a message from her mother bluntly stating that if they didn't hear from her at least once a month they would send Luna out looking for her.

Needless to say, the message had prompted (terrified) her into writing monthly letters to assure her parents she was still ok. The last thing she wanted was a pissed off Luna coming after her.

_We're staying at an inn in Lyzeille, waiting out a storm. It had better clear up soon. This place is like something out of those cliché ghost stories Uncle Liam used to tell. The innkeeper looks like a zombie._

_How're you? How's Luna? Blah, blah, blah, usual questions. I-_

Lina paused mid-sentence as someone entered the room. "Hey Lina!" Gourry said cheerfully, "They've got great food downst-!" He was interrupted by her boot colliding with his face.

"Jellyfish brain! Don't you know you're s'posed to knock?! What if I'd been changing!"

He rubbed the boot shaped mark on his face. "Ow… That hurt."

Lina hmphed. "Serves you right." Suddenly the light went out, leaving them in pitch darkness.

"H-hey! Lina, what'd you do?! I'm sorry already!"

"It wasn't me Gourry!" Lina cursed loudly as she stubbed her toe against the bedpost. "Sonuva… Lighting!" The room was illuminated once more.

"What happened?"

"Dunno. I guess the lamp must've gone out or something." Lina moved to relight said lamp, and frowned at what she saw. "That's weird…"

"What is it Lina?" Gourry looked over shoulder.

"Look at this," Lina gestured at the lamp. "Notice anything out of the ordinary?" He scrutinized it.

"No, not really." She slapped her forehead.

"Jellyfish brains! The fricken candle's gone!"

"Yeah, I know," he replied, still looking nonplussed. "So what?"

Lina seethed at him. "Whaddaya mean 'so what?'?! Candles don't just disappear into thin air by them selves!"

He still looked confused. "But how do you know it was ever there in the first place?"

Lina resisted the urge to strangle him. "It was what was lighting the room you moron! That's how I know it was actually here in the first place!"

"Oh…"

Lina muttered darkly under her breath. _Forget the creep factor, I'm gonna go nuts from cabin fever if I stay here too long. _With a sigh, she gestured towards the lamp, causing the light spell to sit where the absent candle once stood.

"So Lina, what were you doing when I came in?" Gourry asked.

"Hmm? Oh, just writing another letter home."

"Huh." Gourry glanced at the letter. There was silence for a moment. Lina was still puzzled by the candle's mysterious disappearance. _The only way it could have possibly vanished into thin air like that was if someone put it into an Astral Rift._ Astral Rifts were pockets of the Astral Plane sorcerers could use to store physical objects. It was a very handy spell for travelers.

The thing was, objects didn't go into Astral Rifts unless someone deliberately sent them there. She and Gourry were the only people in the room. If someone else been there, one of them would've noticed their presence. _Besides, who would go to all that trouble just steal a candle? Especially one that's barely more than a stub? _

"Hey Lina," Gourry broke off her train of thought. "Maybe the ghost of a dead chicken stole it."

Lina looked completely baffled. "What?!" Where had that come from?!

"I said: 'Maybe the ghost of a dead chicken stole it.'"

She gave him a withering look. "I heard what you said," she snapped. "What in the world makes you think a chicken's ghost stole the candle?"

"Well," Gourry explained, "When I was little, my grandpa told me all these stories about ghosts who moved stuff around for fun." His eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "What were they called again…?" Lina almost laughed in spite of herself at Gourry's face as he tried to think. "Oh yeah!" he snapped his fingers. "Poultryghosts! That's it!" He looked very pleased with himself.

Lina slapped her forehead. "I think you mean 'poltergeist,'" she groaned. "And they have nothing to do with chickens. Although," she admitted, "You do raise a good point." She gave him a congratulatory whack on the back. "Not bad for a jellyfish brain."

Gourry rubbed his back and winced. "Thanks… I think." He paused. "So what now?"

"Well," Lina thought it over, "Poltergeists are pretty uncommon, so it's kind of improbable that we'd find one here." She shrugged. "But on the other hand, it's the only plausible theory we have so far. I'll have Amelia check it out. These things are more her area of expertise than mine." Suddenly there was a growling noise. Lina laughed sheepishly.

"Heh, all this thinking has made me hungry. Let's get something to eat."

* * *

A/N: Well, here it is folks! The sequel to "The Mystery of Kanzaka Manor"! You probably weren't expecting a sequel, and to be honest, neither was I. Kanzaka Manor was originally supposed to be just a short, fun little fic that would help me improve my writing. But I wanted to write another ghost story, and than I got the idea to make a sequel. And this is the result (fyi, this is the fic I mentioned in my last author's note for Journeys). The next chapter will probably be up some time next week.

Lina's letter home were inspired by the first time I went on an overnight school trip without my parents. The teachers made us check in with our parents via cell phone at least twice a day to let them know we were alright. My messages were usually something along the lines of: "I haven't died, nothing's exploded." Although the exploded part wouldn't have worked too well with Lina. Hope it wasn't too OOC for her.

Please R&R!


	2. Part 2

**Part 2**

As soon as Zelgadis walked into the restaurant part of the inn, he was immediately suspicious. Every one of his senses went on high alert. Something was very wrong here. It wasn't the fact the only lantern in the entire room cast spooky shadows everywhere, or the ominous sound of thunder and lightning coming from outside, or even the corpse-like inn keeper and the corpse-like woman (who Zelgadis assumed was his wife) standing in a corner staring at them intently.

No, it was the fact that Lina and Gourry were sitting and eating in a calm and mannerly fashion. _Did hell freeze over while I wasn't looking?_

As he moved to sit down at their table, however, he saw that their demeanor was not so much calm and mannerly as nervous and uncomfortable.

"What's up with you two?" he asked.

"Those two weirdoes," Lina complained, gesturing with a forkful of potatoes at the innkeeper and his wife, "have been staring at us ever since we came down here!"

"It's really creeping me out," Amelia added, shivering. "They look like ghosts."

"Would you like something to eat?" Zelgadis nearly fell out of his chair as a high pitched voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard came from right behind him. The woman was giving him a sinister look. "Well?"

"J-just c-coffee, thanks..." he stammered. Hadn't she been on the other side of the room a second ago?

A moment later she returned with a mug of brown liquid he suspected wasn't coffee.

"Did that to rest of us too," Lina grumbled. "And speaking of ghosts…" she filled them in on what had happened with the missing candle.

"And you think a poltergeist is responsible?" Zelgadis was skeptical.

"Look, I know it's pretty unlikely, but it's the only possible explanation Gourry and I could come up with," she retorted.

"So you're saying," Amelia glanced around nervously, "That this place might be haunted?" As it wasn't spooky enough around here! "Aren't you even a little bit bothered by this Miss Lina, what with everything that happened a few weeks ago?"

"You mean at L's mansion?" Lina clarified. "Not really. L was a psychotic Mazoku/ghost hybrid. Compared to that, a simple poltergeist should be no problem for a Seyruun priestess like yourself to get rid of."

"I suppose," Amelia said uncertainly. Exorcism had never been her strongest suit, not to mention that dealing with ghosts and the paranormal gave her the creeps.

"I agree with Lina," Zelgadis added, "I for one don't want to have to spend the night with poltergeists running around."

* * *

Amelia slept badly that night. True, she'd gone ahead and performed the exorcism spell like Lina asked, but she still couldn't shake a feeling of uneasiness. To make things worse, all the talk about ghosts and the inn's spooky aura in general had given her the creeps. 

Wherever she looked, some shadow or small movement scared her out of her wits. When she tried closing her eyes, she was plagued by visions of shapeless demons and monsters advancing on her. After much tossing and turning in bed, she eventually managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

* * *

_She coughed as the acrid smell of smoke burned at her lungs. Frantically she tried holing her breath as best she could while stumbling about for a way out of the smoke. _

_Suddenly she found herself falling onto the grass in the fresh clean air. Sputtering, she hacked and coughed, trying to clear the grit smoke out of her lungs. The sound of screams filled the air. Eyes watering, she looked up. _

_The small figure of a little boy, no older than 6, came tearing out of the burning building, screaming and sobbing incomprehensibly. A woman came bursting out of the inferno not long after him. Her eyes had a crazed, almost inhuman look, and in one hand she carried a long kitchen knife. The blade glinted in the firelight; to her horror, Amelia saw that it was dripping with blood._

_The little boy's screams grew louder when he saw the woman. "Mommy, no!" he half sobbed, half screamed. Frantically, he started to run away from her, only to trip and fall on a rock. Grinning maniacally, the woman advanced on him. Wailing, the boy tried to crawl away, but the woman was too fast for him. Grabbing him by the shoulder, she raised her knife-

* * *

_

Amelia woke with a start to the sound of glass shattering. Seconds later she heard a startled shout from the next room. She blinked sleep from her eyes as her brain tried to process it.

_That sounded like Mr. Zelgadis,_ she thought. Scrambling out of bed she dashed into the hallway. There she saw that Lina had beaten her to it and was pounding on Zelgadis' door.

"Zel, you alright?" she shouted. No response.

"Wh-wha's goin' on?" A very tired looking Gourry emerged from his room with a yawn.

Lina ignored him, yanking open the door. All of them were nearly knocked over backwards by a blast of icy wind and rain.

"Wha- what the hell?!" Lina shouted over the howl of the wind. "What's happening?!" Amelia squinted, as she sheilded her face with her arms. Through the now open door she could see Zelgadis was slowly moving against the wind towards the broken window. His lips moved as he uttered some spell, though the words were lost on the wind. In seconds, the wind had died down completely.

"Wha-what the hell just happened?" Lina demanded angrily.

"Don't look at me," Zelgadis snapped. "The glass just shattered out of the blue." He gestured at the window, which had been filled by some kind of barrier spell. Amelia glanced around his room. It looked like it had been hit by a tornado (which wasn't far from the truth). What little furniture there was- aside from the bed- had been overturned and/or smashed. His belongings had been scattered all over the place. His sword stuck out hilt-first from the wall, just a few inches from the door frame.

But his room wasn't the only thing that was a mess. "Nice hairdo Zel," Lina snickered. Zelgadis glanced in the mirror and groaned. The wind had managed to blow his hair back, causing it to stick out straight backwards.

"Great," he grumbled, "Just great." Having wire hair stunk. Amelia resisted the urge to laugh too. Laughing another's misfortune would've been unjust! Although, it _was_ pretty funny.

"Er, so Mr. Zelgadis," she hastily tried to change the subject, "Why did your window suddenly break like that?"

The chimera shrugged. "It could have been a lot of things. Weak glass, a rock picked up by the storm, anything."

"Maybe it was that chicken-ghost again," Gourry suggested.

Lina sighed. "Gourry, don't you remember that spell Amelia did last night?" He scratched his head.

"Umm…. Maybe?" He scratched his head, then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, forgot."

If Lina hadn't been so tired, she would have throttled him. "That was an exorcism spell, you jellyfish brain," she growled through clenched teeth. "If there were any ghosts around here, that spell would've gotten rid of them."

"Oh..." Gourry trailed off.

"Right then," Lina grumbled, "If we're all finished here, I'm going back to bed."

* * *

A/N: Part the second! Over the weekend, I was flying to the land of corn (Iowa) for a debate tournament, of all things. On the plane ride there I got a fun plot idea for part 3. Luckily I have no school tomarrow (end of third quarter), so I'll be able to type it up then. 

And on a completely random note, one of my friends on the trip made up a song about corn to the tune of "Shoes." It was very funneh.

Part 3 will hopefully be up within the next few days.

R&R please!


	3. Part 3

**Part 3**

_Ping! Ping! Ping!_ The wall clock in Lina's room cheerfully chimed the hour. _Ping! Ping! Ping! Pi-!_

_Smash!_ Never having been much of a morning person, Lina was not in the mood for cheerful. The broken clock's remains made a pitiful sounding chirp. She pulled the covers over her head, hoping for a few more moments of sleep….

"Hey Lina!" It was Gourry.

_Urgh…What now?_ She peeked above the covers. "Wha d'ya want?" she muttered sleepily. She glanced out the window and nearly fell out of bed. "Gourry! Do you have any idea what time it is?!" she shouted, leaping out of bed angrily, fully awake. "It's not even light yet!" She grabbed her trusty Gourry-whacking slipper and put it to good use.

"But Lina!" he protested, flinching a little, "It's 10:30!"

She stopped mid-whack and blinked. "Huh?" She looked outside and saw with a sinking that it was raining just as hard as it was last night, if not harder.

Lina groaned. "Well isn't that peachy," she grumbled. "Another night at Howliday Inn." She glanced at Gourry. "What is it that you wanted anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just thought I'd let you know we're gonna eat breakfast in Amelia's room."

This relieved her greatly. Being stared at incessantly by a pair of living zombies over breakfast was not how she wanted to start her morning. The day was starting out bad enough as it was.

"Right then!" She grinned and licked her lips. "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

* * *

In spite of the fact that they were eating in Amelia's room and not in the tavern, breakfast went as normal. 

As usual, Lina and Gourry ate everything in sight. Amelia and Zelgadis were careful to protect their own plates lest they be snarfed by the swordsmen or the sorceress. They had plenty of practice at this.

"Don't you think it's a little strange that it's still raining?" Amelia queried, deftly snatching a piece of toast before a ravenous-looking Gourry could swipe it.

"Yeah, didn't you say it would let up this morning Zel?" Lina added as she helped herself to some of Gourry's eggs.

Zelgadis shrugged and sipped his coffee. "Weather predictions aren't always right." Gourry grabbed a handful of sausages off of Lina's plate.

"Well it had better clear up _soon,_" Lina said, as Gourry parried her fork with his. As they locked utensils, Gourry reached with his other hand for one of her waffles.

"Oh no you don't!" Lina whacked him with her slipper.

"Something bothering you Amelia?" Zelgadis asked, noticing her troubled expression.

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking about a dream I had last night." She described it to him.

"Hmmmm…" Zelgadis thought it over. Meanwhile, Lina and Gourry were dueling with their forks in the background. "You… don't suppose it's your priestess powers do you?" He asked uneasily, hoping that wasn't the case.

Amelia shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "Usually I just get premonitions and things like that, not dreams. Although," she added, "I've been getting a weird feeling about this place ever since we got here." Zelgadis nodded, already aware of this. They'd all been getting similar feelings. He fervently hoped the rain would clear up soon. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it here.

* * *

Most of the morning turned out to be boring. Very, very boring. The rain (still pouring as heavy as ever) meant they couldn't leave the inn. And the inn had very little in terms of things to do. As Lina so eloquently put it, "If someone doesn't find something for us to do, fast, things are gonna start exploding." It amazing how effectively threats can motivate a person. 

Eventually someone suggested playing cards. Since no one else had any better ideas, they agreed. A deck of cards was procured (how and from where no one was sure), and they all sat on the floor of Lina's room.

Strangely enough, the only game they all knew how to play was poker. Lina found this puzzling. Zelgadis she could understand, but Gourry and Amelia? Why would the Justice-loving young princess ever be interested in gambling? And as for Gourry… just where the heck had he learned how to play, anyways? And more importantly, how the heck had he managed to remember it? She would probably never know.

As Zelgadis began shuffling the cards, he realized they had a problem. If they used real coins, and Lina wound up losing a lot of money, the consequences for the rest of them would be painful (to say the least).

It was Amelia who found a solution. "Gracia and I would sometimes play poker when we were little," she explained. "But since it's unjust to gamble, we bet with matchsticks instead of actual money."

After finding some matches and dividing them into four equal piles, Zelgadis dealt the cards. As Lina ordered her cards, and she found it difficult not to frown. Nothing but a pair of twos. Not the greatest of hands. She exchanged three of her cards, and groaned inwardly. Still nothing good.

She glanced at her friends. Amelia, never having been one to hide her emotions, had the same look on her face she always got whenever she sang he "Life is Wonderful" song. Zelgadis was harder to read, though Lina thought she might've seen something akin to annoyance in his eyes. Gourry, meanwhile, stared off vacantly into space. _Either he's got a really good poker face,_ she thought, _or he's just lost again._ The latter seemed more likely in her opinion.

They placed their bets.

"I bet three."

"I'll see your three and raise you four." Et cetera et cetera. Eventually, Zelgadis placed his cards face down on the floor in annoyance.

"I fold," he said, sounding annoyed. The game continued, and the heap of matchsticks in the center grew steadily larger. Amelia's "Life is Wonderful," expression began to fade and was replaced by worry. Shortly after, she folded as well.

Now it was down to just Lina and Gourry. She gave her protector a calculating look. His vacant expression hadn't changed since the game started. Was he bluffing? She didn't think he had the mental capacity to bluff. _Although_, she thought cynically, _it could be he's just been following everyone else's lead in the betting and he really has no idea what's in his hand._ She quickly brushed the possibility aside. _Nah. He's dumb, but not that dumb._

The betting continued. Like watching a tennis match, Amelia and Zelgadis' heads moved from side to side as the bets went back and forth.

"I'll see your three and raise you another three."

"Well I'll see your three and raise you five!"

"Then I'll see that and raise you four." Amelia rubbed the back her neck. This was starting to make her neck hurt!

"I'll see your four and raise you, uh…" Lina reached for her pile of matches, to find it was suddenly gone. "Damn it, I'm out of matches."

Gourry glanced at his own pile. "Huh. So am I."

"Alright then, call." They laid down their cards face up on the table. Lina gaped at his cards. "A pair of threes?!" He'd actually been bluffing?!

"Hey! It looks like I win!" Gourry said happily. Amelia and Zelgadis exchanged looks. Who'd've thought it?

Lina jabbed her finger at him. "Hah! You may have beaten me this round, but I'm not gonna go easy on you anymore!"

* * *

_Later…_

Lina buried her face in her hands as Gourry happily raked in another large pile of matchsticks, along with several buttons, a shoe, and one of Lina's gloves.

"How is this possible?!" Lina moaned. "How can such a jellyfish-brains be so good at poker?!"

Amelia bore a strong resemblance to a fish as she gaped at him. Her brain was having trouble processing the fact that Gourry, who'd never come across as the sharpest knife in the drawer, had actually beaten all of them at poker. Six times in a row.

She closed her mouth, then opened it again, still in shock.

"You're going to catch flies you know," Zelgadis pointed out. She closed her mouth numbly and shook her head.

"I don't believe any of this," she murmured.

"Anyone want to play again?" Gourry asked hopefully.

"Forget it," Lina grumbled, grabbing her glove off the pile and yanking it on to her hand with a disgruntled tug. "I'm going to get something to eat." Gourry's face fell, but brightened just as quickly. Food was good by him! The pair of them got up and went downstairs. After a minute, Zelgadis shrugged and followed.

Amelia wasn't hungry quite yet. Instead she opted to go the bathroom and take a nice long bath. The bathroom, at least, was a shade less creepy than the rest of the building. There was any running water, but that wasn't a major problem for her.

"Aqua create," she intoned, and the tub was filled to the brim with water. She then took off her clothes, leaving them in a heap by the tub (she'd been picking up bad habits from Lina).

Amelia stuck her finger in the water, and almost immediately pulled it out. "Freezing!" The one problem with Aqua Create was that the water produced was always the same temperature: cold. But that too was an easy problem to solve.

"Fireball!" Not a big one. About the half size of your fist. Bad for frying villains; good for heating bathwater. Amelia stuck her finger in and smiled. Much better.

She got in and relaxed with a happy sigh. This felt great. Now if only everyone in the world could relax like this. Perhaps they'd be happier and nicer to each other….

"That's it!" Amelia pounded her fist in the palm of her hand in a "eureka" gesture. "If there were more hot springs in the world, then more people would become allies of Justice! Maybe I can talk to daddy about build some more in Seyruun…" Her mind raced with thoughts and ideas for her new "Hot Springs of Justice" plan.

Hot springs and Justice, she decided, were the two most essential things in life. And, of course, friends. Fighting for Justice was much easier when you had fellow Allies of Justice to help you do it.

_Just think, _she thought, reclining in the tub, _so much Justice has been achieved because of Miss Lina, Mr. Gourry, and Mr. Zelgadis. _She yawned. _The world could use more warriors of Justice like them._ Granted, they would have been mortified to hear her call them that (except for maybe Gourry), but Amelia knew, that deep down inside, that's what they really were. The sheer number of times they'd saved the world was proof enough of that, for her at least. They just didn't like to be as… obvious about it as she did.

_Although,_ she thought ruefully, _it would be nice if so many of my diplomatic missions didn't end with Miss Lina Dragon Slaving something. _

After a while (having lost track of time, she wasn't sure exactly how long), she got out. Picking up towel, she wrapped it around herself like a toga. Amelia did a double take as a moving shape in the mirror caught her eye. Then something grabbed her shoulder.

* * *

Zelgadis jumped as a blood curdling scream shattered the relative quiet of the inn. Lina and Gourry, equally, startled, stopped in the middle of their food fight. 

"That sounded like Amelia," Gourry said, a piece of chicken falling from his mouth. Zelgadis was already out the door and going up the stairs, trying hard not to think about what may have caused her to scream like that.

"Amelia!" he shouted, pounding on the locked bathroom door. "What's wrong? What's happened?!" No answer. "Damn… Damu Bras!" He blasted down the door.

Inside, Amelia stood backed up against the wall, staring at the wall opposite her with a look of utter terror.

"It was right there!" Amelia almost sobbed, pointing at the wall face her. "There!" She slid against the wall into a fetal position, and choked back sobs. Zelgadis knelt down beside her and put his arm around her. He awkwardly tried to comfort her, unsure of what else to do.

"Amelia?" Lina and Gourry showed up at the door. "What happened?" she demanded. "Zel?" He shook his head gave her a look that said "later." Amelia wasn't in much of a condition to make any sort of coherent sense at the moment.

* * *

A/N: Bwahahahahahahahahaha! Strange things are happening. -Dramatic announcer voice- What could have possibly scared Amelia so much? Could it be somehow connected to everything else that's been going on? How did Gourry manage to kick everyone's butts in poker? 

Hem... yeah... the poker scene was inspired by Star Trek: The Next Generation (I'm a Trekkie-in-Training). They use poker games between the crew members of the Enterprise for character development. I thought it would be funny if Lina and and co. played poker and Gourry wound up kicking everyone's butts.

As for Amelia's "Hotsprings of Justice..." don't ask. Just don't. -sweatdrop-

As always, R&R please!


	4. Part 4

**Part 4**

After a while, Amelia calmed down to the point to where she could coherently explain what had happened to her.

"It was horrible," she said softly, sitting on her bed, staring at her hands. "I was getting out of the bath, when I-I saw a woman in the mirror."

"A woman?" Zelgadis frowned.

"Yes," Amelia nodded. "I thought I was alone, but I saw her in the mirror. She said… something. I couldn't hear it. And then she grabbed my shoulder, and…" Amelia trailed off, shuddering and unconsciously brushing her shoulder.

"And?" Lina prompted, sounding somewhat impatient.

"And then… I screamed, and I turned around, and she was gone," Amelia said. "But that's not all. It was the woman from my nightmare!"

Lina's eyes bulged. "What?! Are you sure?!"

Amelia nodded vigorously. "Positive."

Gourry looked both freaked and confused, which is a rather odd looking expression. "But what does it mean?"

"I- I don't know," Amelia looked back at her hands.

"I get the feeling," Lina said after amoment, sighing, "That this is somehow connected to everything else that's been going on?"

Gourry gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean by that, Lina?"

"Think about it. First, that candle disappeared. We figured a poltergeist was probably behind it, right? So Amelia used an exorcism spell to get rid of it."

Zelgadis' foot tapped the floor impatiently. "We know that! Get to the point!"

She gave him a withering look and continued. "Anyways, even after doing that, things have continued happening. Zel's window breaks out of the blue, and now this. My woman's intuition tells me that this can't be a coincidence."

"But Lina, if the spell-thingy that Amelia used got rid of the poultry-ghost, than how can it have been connected to everything else?" Gourry asked.

"Well…" Lina said slowly, "that spell you used was a pretty basic exorcism spell, meaning that it would've only worked on weaker ghosts, right Amelia?" Amelia nodded mutely. "Ok, so if we were just dealing with a simple poltergeist, then Amelia's spell would've gotten rid of it with no problem," Lina explained. "But since her spell _didn't_ get rid of it…"

"Are you saying that something even _worse?_" Gourry sprang up, looking positively alarmed.

"Calm down, Gourry," Lina waved a hand at him. "Even the strongest ghosts are still only as powerful as your average Lesser Demon. It's nothing we can't handle."

"Oh," Gourry looked only partially reassured.

"It sounds pretty iffy to me," Zelgadis said skeptically. Lina glared at him.

"I agree with Miss Lina," Amelia spoke up suddenly. "My Justice sense tells me that something evil is definitely haunting this place."

"Well in that case, there's only one thing to do!" Lina pumped her fist. "Get rid of the darn thing!" She glanced at Amelia. "Of course, we're going to need your priestess powers for this one Amelia."

"Oh, well, um…" Amelia looked uncomfortable. "You see, an exorcism spell stronger than the one I used before would require an amplifier, so…"

"I could lend you my Demon Blood Talismans," Lina offered.

Amelia shook her head. "Wrong kind of amplifier. Your talismans amplify a person's magical capacity. For this kind of spell, I would need something to focus the spell through."

"Oh," Lina cupped her cheek in her hand, deflated.

"Hey Lina, you said that this ghost was about as powerful as a Lesser Demon, right?" Gourry asked.

"Yeah," Lina said slowly, unsure of where he was going with this. She braced herself for another moment of classic stupidity, Gourry style.

"Well, you've never had any problem beating Lesser Demons before. Why not use the same techniques you use on them on the ghost?" He suggested.

On the scale the scale of things, Lina supposed it wasn't as bad as it could've been. "It's not that simple Gourry," she said, rubbing her temples. "Ghosts and Lesser Demons may be equally powerful, but they're still very different things. You can't fight them in the same in the same way." Judging by the look on his face, he still didn't get it.

"Think of it like this. You know the Ra Tilt is supposed to be as powerful as the Dragon Slave, right?" Gourry nodded. He vaguely remembered her mentioning that at some point. "But they're still totally different spells."

"Actually," Zelgadis cut in, "As strange as this might sound, I think Gourry may be on to something."

They all gave him surprised looks. "How do you figure that, Zel?"

"When you get down to it, ghosts are Astral beings, just like Lesser Demons," he explained. "Theoretically, there's no reason why Astral spells like Elmekia Lance won't work on them."

"Theoretically?" Lina skeptically raised an eyebrow.

Amelia rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I've never heard of anyone approaching it that way before, but then again, I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work either."

"Even if it does work," Lina pointed out, "We'd still have to find the ghost first. I don't think they'd just stand around in the open waiting for us to attack them."

"Do you have any better suggestions?" Zelgadis raised an eyebrow.

"Er, well, no," she admitted, somewhat awkwardly.

"Right then," Amelia nodded, "Let's start looking for it!"

"In the morning," Lina interrupted.

They stared at her. "What?!"

"I said, 'In the morning,'" Lina told them matter-of-factly. "Unless you guys wanna spend the night looking for some ghost that's god knows where."

"Uh, well," Gourry scratched his head uncertainly.

"But Miss Lina!" Amelia protested, standing up. "Shouldn't we get rid of it as quickly as possible?!"

"So you're saying you'd rather go wandering around a strange, haunted building in the middle of the night instead of getting a good night's sleep?" Lina shot her a look.

"Um, well," Amelia visibly wilted.

"Besides, it's not like whatever it is poses a serious threat or anything," Lina added. "It can wait till morning."

* * *

_Darkness. It was everywhere. It surrounded him. It enveloped him. Zelgadis tried to run, to escape from the endless blackness. It felt like he was running, yet the darkness surrounding didn't change. He had no way of knowing if he'd moved at all. He wanted to scream his frustration…_

_Voices! Somewhere in the empty blackness (was it really empty?) he heard the faint, indistinct sound of people's voices. He thought he heard someone screaming. Then one, distant voice rose clearly above the rest: "Please, don't! Stop!!" It was man's voice, followed by the sound of a woman screaming, and then a child's wailing. _

_Zelgadis began to run towards the voices. Steadily they grew louder, there were more screams. _

_Suddenly, he found himself inside of a building. Everything was burning, and the room was filled with smoke. If he had been distracted by other things, he might've wondered why the smoke didn't seem to bother him, or why he couldn't feel the heat of the flames._

_On the far side of the room, a weeping man sat huddled in the corner, clutching the body of a woman, whose head hung limply and, Zelgadis saw with a jolt, had a blood soaked knife protruding out of her chest. Facing the man was another woman, holding a bucket of some dark liquid. The flickering firelight reflected the look of insanity in her eyes. _

"_Why?" the man sobbed. "Why are you doing this?"_

"_Why?!" The woman barked angrily. "Don't patronize me! You know why!"_

"_Please," the man pleaded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the woman cut him off._

"_Shut up!" she screeched, dumping the dark liquid on to both the man and the body of the other woman. An acrid smell filled Zelgadis' nose, and he realized with horror what it must be. "Just shut up!!!" she screeched again, picking up a piece of burning wood and throwing it at the man. _

_He looked away, unable to watch as the man was consumed by flames. He covered his ears, trying desperately to block out his screams…

* * *

_

Zelgadis woke with a start, panting heavily like he'd run several miles. His blankets were damp with cold sweat.

"A… dream," he told himself, still breathing heavily. "Just… a dream." He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Eventually, his heart stopped feeling like a pounding hammer in his chest.

Zelgadis knew it would be a while before he could get back to sleep. Getting out of bed, he blindly felt his way across the dark room, stubbing his toe more than once. Finally reaching the door, he opened it and stepped into the hallway, where he bumped into someone. Literally.

"Ow! Damn it!" a familiar female voice cursed in the dark. A quick lighting spell revealed Lina sitting on the ground, rubbing her forehead painfully. She glared angrily at the chimera. "Why don't you watch where you're going!"

Zelgadis rolled his eyes and offered a hand to help her up. "You could've cast a light spell you know."

"Shut up!" she snapped, taking his hand and getting up. "Besides, there's more danger involved with bumping into you then there is with bumping into me."

"That's debatable," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Er, so what're you doing up this late?"

"Oh, well, Amelia keeps muttering in her sleep, and it's been keeping me awake," she explained. Lina had let Amelia sleep in her room, since the princess had been badly shaken up by what had happened in the bathroom. Although the sorceress was beginning to regret her offer. "I tried casting a sleep spell on her, but it only stops for a few minutes." She glanced at Zel. "What about you?"

"Couldn't sleep either," he said, choosing to leave it at that. Lina didn't press the issue.

"Whatever," she said with yawn. "I think I'll take my stuff and sleep in Gourry's room. He snores, but I can put up with it."

She moved tiredly towards the door, while Zelgadis went in the opposite direction towards the bathroom. He'd only gone a little ways down the hallway when he heard the sound of a door opening, followed by Lina's small cry of horror.

"What is it?!" he came running down the hallway. "What's wrong?!" Lina was staring into her room with a mixed expression of shock and horror.

"No…" she whispered. He looked over her shoulder into the room and gasped. It was a mess, even more so than his had been the previous night. All the furniture had been smashed. The mirror on the wall now lay in scattered shards on the floor. The sheets and mattress had been ripped to shreds. Only the white feathers strewn about the floor remained to indicate that there had been pillows in there at one point. All over the walls, the word "_BLOOD_" have been scratched into the wood over and over again. But worst of all, Amelia was gone.

* * *

A/N: Eeep... you people are probably gonna hate me for ending the chapter with a cliffhanger like that. -ducks into bombshelter- I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible! 

Can't think of anything else to say in this authors note that doesn't give stuff away.

R&R please!


	5. Part 5

**Part 5**

"It's been raining for nearly three days now," Lina said, glancing angrily out the window. "If that storm is natural, then I'm a priestess." She gave the storm a death glare, as if it might respond to intimidation. It kept raining as heavily as ever.

"Does it really matter at this point?" Gourry asked quietly. "We know the place is haunted, and rain or no rain, we're not leaving until we find Amelia." The clock struck nine. Although you couldn't tell from looking outside, it was morning.

"That's why," Lina replied matter-of-factly, "We need a plan of action. Zel!" she said sharply. The chimera didn't seem to hear her, apparently lost in thought. She scowled. Sure, he'd been in a funk all morning over what had happened the previous night, and that was understandable, but brooding was going to help them find Amelia! "Hey Zel!" she slammed her fist on the table, recoiled in pain, and rubbed her bruised hand, wincing.

"What?"

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you!" she snapped. "Any ideas for what we should do next?"

"I should think it would be obvious," he replied, glaring back at her. "Find Amelia, of course."

"Well duh! I meant something more specific than that!"

Gourry decided that he should probably step in before things got violent. "Hey, calm down you," he said, putting a restraining hand on Lina's shoulder. "We don't need to fight."

Lina relented and sat down, though she was still glaring daggers at Zelgadis. "So do you have any more specific ideas, Zel?"

"Well," Zelgadis said, leaning back in his chair, "I think you have more experience with this sort of thing than either of us do, Lina." She gave him a confused look. What the hell was he talking about? "Or have you forgotten what happened a few weeks ago?"

Realization dawned. "If you mean what happened at L's mansion, forget it," Lina replied sullenly. "Amelia and I ran into a benevolent ghost who led is to the room L was holing up in. It was pure luck. The odds of finding another ghost like Jeeves are low."

"So… are we just gonna have to search this whole place, top to bottom?" Gourry asked.

Lina sighed in resignation. "It sure does look that way."

* * *

And so they began a complete top-to-bottom search of the inn. Lina's first instinct had been to grab the innkeeper and/or his wife and interrogate them. It was a good idea, but the pair of them had also mysteriously vanished.

"It's quite possible," Zelgadis had said gravely, "That _they're_ the ghosts haunting this place." It certainly would've explained their zombie-like creepiness, Lina thought.

They started their search on the ground floor (the inn had no basement- none that they could find at any rate), before working their way up. Although it would have saved them time, no one suggested splitting up. Sticking together meant a lower risk of disappearing like Amelia had.

It didn't take them long to finish. The inn was only two stories tall, not including the attic. "Great," Lina sighed, climbing down the ladder back on the second floor. "We've searched the entire place top to bottom, and there's no sign of Amelia."

"Maybe the ghosts took her somewhere outside the inn?" Gourry suggested.

"I doubt it," Lina replied shaking her head. "From what I've heard, ghosts don't usually leave the places they haunt."

"Well then where else could they be?"

"Hmmm… Maybe they're using a pocket dimension, like Kanzel and Mazenda did…" Lina said thoughtfully.

"Unlikely," Zelgadis replied. "Kanzel and Mazenda were Mazoku. It's unlikely that a ghost could pull off something like dimensional manipulation." Lina supposed that they could be dealing with another ghost-mazoku hybrid, like L had been, or worse, an actual full blooded Mazoku. But the theory seemed too improbable to her, so she didn't voice it aloud to the others. "But then where on earth could she _be?_" Zelgadis muttered angrily, slamming his fist into the wall and leaving a sizable dent.

There was of course, one other possibility. But none of them wanted to say it aloud. It was just too horrible to consider. The possibility that Amelia might be…

"You know," Lina said slowly, "There's one other thing we haven't checked. It may be a long shot, but it's definitely worth looking into."

Zelgadis and Gourry both gave her questioning looks. "What is it?"

"I know this is gonna sound kind of crazy, but…" she looked almost… embarrassed? "Y'see, my uncle told a lot of ghost stories to me and my sister when we were kids. In haunted mansions and things like that, there were almost always hidden rooms or secret passageways. It's worth checking to see if the inn has anything like that."

Zelgadis was skeptical. "Ghost stories aren't exactly the gospel truth you know," he pointed out.

"If you have any better ideas, I'd be happy to hear them Zel."

Gourry scratched his head thoughtfully. "I think Lina might be right. We were just checking to see if Amelia was in the rooms. There's a lot of stuff we could've missed." Zelgadis nodded grudgingly, and Lina stuck out her tongue.

They began their search again, only this time, they went much more slowly, and much more carefully. They started with the kitchen, as it seemed like the most likely place for a hidden room or secret passageway to be located. Few people aside from the proprietors and the cook would have been allowed in there, so it would have been less likely to be discovered there.

Lina crouched down and opened the pantry door. She coughed as a cloud of dust hit her square in the face. Evidently, no one had dusted the cupboards for awhile. Fanning away the dust cloud with one hand, she peered into the cupboard and wrinkled her nose with disgust. Everything was encrusted with mold, and the shelves were coated with a thick layer of dust.

There was no way Lina was going to put her hands in the cabinet and search for possible hidden doors when it was so dirty. There had been a spell her mother had often used, which was very effective at getting rid of dirt, dust, and other grunge. Unfortunately, Lina had never bothered to learn the spell, never having liked housework very much. She was starting to regret that now.

Still, there was another spell she knew which would hopefully clean out the cabinets just as effectively. "Bram Fang!" She shot the small arrow of wind into the cabinet at point-blank range. As she'd hoped, it blasted away all the dust and mold, but didn't cause any major damage to the cabinet. Unfortunately, the spell also sent bits of mold and another cloud of dust flying into her face.

"Blech!" Lina recoiled in disgust, coughing and hacking. Maybe she should've thought that one out more…

"You ok Lina?" Gourry's voice came from somewhere close by behind her.

"I'm fine. Just some dust." She coughed again, before repositioning herself in order to search the cabinet. She scrutinized the wooden paneling of the pantry, simultaneously running her fingers over the shelves and walls, searching. Latches, trick panels, hinges, trap doors, cracks that weren't where they were supposed to be, all the things that she remembered from Uncle Liam's stories that would indicate what they were looking for. But then again, it could be something they hadn't even thought of.

_We'll cross that bridge we get to it,_ she told herself. Satisfied that it contained nothing unusual, Lina closed the cabinet doors and moved onto the next one.

Across the room, Zelgadis was searching behind sink. Or least, that's what he had planned on doing. Time and time again, his thoughts kept straying to other things…

_Where are you Amelia? Are you alright?_ The questions kept running through his mind. Images of what may have happened to her came unbidden, plaguing his thoughts. He closed his eyes, and clenched his fist, trying to shut the images out.

She was alive! She had to be!

_You don't that for a fact…_

That didn't matter! He had to believe she was alright!

_You were kidnapped by ghosts once too, weren't you? You were far from alright._

Yes, but things had turned out ok in the end.

_You call Lina nearly dying "Ok"? And that's no guarantee that the same thing will happen again. You just got lucky. _

Zelgadis sighed as the inner battle of wills died down a little. This was an inward conflict he'd grown accustomed to over the past few years. As Lina would readily attest to, he'd always been a pessimist for the most part. But over the years, he'd developed an optimistic side as well. He figured it was a result of traveling with Amelia so much; over time, her songs about how wonderful life was and her many lectures on why he should have a more positive attitude had inevitably gotten to him. But he didn't resent it. In fact, he was secretly grateful for it. More than once, that sense of optimism had kept him from being driven to complete despair when his quest for a cure had gotten too frustrating.

Desperately he wanted to know that she was safe. Needed to know she was safe. _She survived Gaav and Phibrizzo, she'll get through this!_ But not even that optimism could completely overcome the nagging voice of doubt and realism in the back of his head, the one that voiced the possibilities he didn't want to consider.

_Amelia…

* * *

_

"Hey Lina," Gourry said quietly.

"What is it Gourry?" she asked, not looking up at him as she searched her fourth cupboard.

"Zelgadis seems kinda down."

"That's normal for him Gourry."

"I meant more so than usual." Lina glanced up at the chimera and saw that he was right. At first glance, it looked like he was searching behind the sink, but a closer observation revealed that he was staring unfocusedly at the same spot on the wall that he'd been staring at five minutes ago. _Three guesses to what he's angsting about,_ she thought dryly.

"It's not that surprising," she said aloud. "You know how close he and Amelia were. Are."

"That's true," Gourry agreed. "I'd probably be the same if it was you that disappeared." Lina looked back into the cupboard, mostly to hide her pinkening face, while frantically trying to convince herself that Gourry had just said something without thinking again.

Eventually they decided that the kitchen contained no hidden rooms or passages, and moved on to the next room- the inn's common room which doubled as a tavern and main entrance. It was also the only other room on the first floor aside from the kitchen.

The common room was much bigger than the kitchen, but since it didn't have nearly as many cupboards, it also meant most of their searching would consist of scanning the floor, walls and ceiling for the tell-tale cracks that would indicate a hidden door. It was long, tedious work, but after well over two hours of searching, they decided that there were no hidden passages in that room either.

"This is going to take forever!" Lina groaned as they climbed up the stairs to the second floor.

"It was your idea, Lina," Gourry pointed out.

"Oh shut up."

"How many rooms are there on the second floor, anyway?" he asked.

"Umm," Lina thought about it for a minute. "Lessee… there's our four rooms, plus the bathroom, plus that room which I think the innkeeper would've sleep in, so that's six. Did I forget anything Zel? Zel?" She glanced behind her and saw that he wasn't there. "Hey Gourry, where'd Zel go?"

"Huh? Well he was right behind me a minute ago…" Their eyes met, and they both shared the same thought. Suddenly filled with immense dread and foreboding, Lina raced down the stairs, Gourry a step ahead of her. _Please, please don't let him be…_she prayed silently.

"No…" she heard Gourry whisper as he reached the bottom. A split-second later she joined him, and gasped. In the two minutes since they had left, the common room had been completely trashed, much in the same way Amelia's had been. All over the walls were craved the word "_PRICE._" Zelgadis was nowhere to be seen.

"Zel… no…" Lina felt her knees start to go weak, and she grabbed Gourry's arm for support. The swordsman numbly put his arm around her and gripped her shoulder.

"How?" she whispered. "How could this have happened? He was right behind us!" her voice rose, getting shriller. "He couldn't have been alone for more than half a minute! How?!" She sounded almost hysterical now.

Gourry didn't answer. He didn't do anything. He was at a loss. He just stood there, with his arm around her, staring into the room, numb with shock and disbelief. The same questions ran through their minds over and over again.

How? How could this happen?

* * *

A/N: Nooooo! Not Zelly-kun too! Bad ghosties!

I hope I didn't overdo the angst in this chapter, and that it wasn't too OOC... This won't be the end of the angst though, as you could probably guess from the end of the chapter. God I love torturing them... I'm sadistic aren't I?

As always, R&R please!


	6. Part 6

**Part 6 **

How could this happen? The same question ran through Gourry's mind over and over again, as he and Lina sat on the staircase, still in shock. First Amelia, now Zelgadis… How? How?

They weren't safe here. That much he knew. Normally danger wouldn't have bothered him this much, but this time… this time was different, somehow.

Before, the threats to their lives had always been someone or something they could see, someone or something they could attack and defend themselves against, at least to some extent. But not this time. Who or whatever was behind this had yet to show their ugly face (assuming they even had one). It had proven that it could take them whenever and wherever it pleased, and there wasn't anything they had been able to do about it.

Fear suddenly clenched in his chest as he realized that Lina could very well be next. _No!_ He couldn't let that happen! That was his duty wasn't it? Somehow, he had to protect her. _But what if you can't? You never even got a chance to see whatever it was when it took Amelia and Zelgadis. It could take her at any moment, and you might not be able to do a damn thing about it._ Gourry pulled her in closer to him and held her tightly. She didn't protest, having fallen asleep.

Alone. Zelgadis and Amelia had both been alone when they disappeared. Perhaps it could only take them when they were by themselves. If that was the case, then he would just have to make sure to never let her out of his sight. Even if she got mad at him for being overprotective, he would gladly let her fireball him as many times as she wanted if it meant he could keep her safe.

* * *

_Gourry wandered aimlessly through the building. This was boring. Endless wood paneled walls as far as the eye could see. He picked his ear and inspected the results. I'm bored, he thought for the zillionth time. He wished Lina was there. Things were always more interesting when she was around. But then again, Lina's definition of "interesting" usually involved stuff exploding. _Still, I'd rather have her here and blowing stuff up than not,_ he thought. _

_The building he was wandering through looked vaguely familiar, as though he'd been here before. He probably had been here before, and had simply forgotten about it. That wasn't unusual for him. He didn't worry too much about it. If it was important, he would have remembered it. _

Hey, where did that door come from?_ On his right, he suddenly noticed a door left ajar. Curious, he opened it and found himself in another familiar looking room. In the room, there were two women. _

_"You're not going to, are you?" one of the women whispered. She had the haggard, malnourished look of someone who hadn't been well for the past few days. Her hair made it look as though she had only just gotten out of bed, and she had a glint of insanity in her eyes. It reminded Gourry of the look Lina sometimes got when she was very, very pissed off and/or very, very hungry. "Protect me from them." _

_The other woman sighed. "Go back to bed Maura." _

_"You won't protect me," the woman called Maura repeated, as if she hadn't heard. "But now I know how to protect myself." A half-crazed smile played across her lips. _

___"Oh? And how's that?" The other woman sounded more tired and irritated rather than curious. _

_Without warning, Maura pulled a knife out from the folds of her nightgown and plunged it into the woman's chest. The woman gurgled a startled cry and stared at Maura for few seconds in shock. Then she stumbled backwards, falling and knocking over a lamp in the process. The lamp in turn fell over and set fire to the curtains. _

_Somewhere, Gourry heard the sound of footsteps and then a man screaming. Or was that him? Maura's smile widened. _

_"Blood."

* * *

_

At some point they must've fallen asleep, because Lina suddenly became aware of the clock chiming 7 in the morning. At first, she could figure out why she was sitting upright on the stairs in Gourry's arms. Then the crushing reality of what had happened the previous day hit her like a ton of lead bricks.

Gourry was still asleep, and had both arms wrapped around her. Normally she would have pounded the living crap out of him for doing something that, but things weren't exactly normal. She leaned her head against his shoulder, unable to bring herself to move quite yet.

Then her protector started muttering uneasily in his sleep. _He's probably having a nightmare,_ she thought. _Can't say I blame him._

"Hey, Gourry," she said, shaking him gently, "Wake up." He rubbed his eyes blearily.

"What is it Lina?"

"Come, on we've got work to do.

* * *

They ate a light breakfast. As Lina pointed out in a falsely cheerful voice, "You can't search on an empty stomach, right?" This time, however, they ate from their own supply of rations, rather than from the inn's food stores. Lina still had unpleasant memories of the last time she'd eaten somewhere that was haunted. 

"So are we gonna pick up where we left off yesterday, Lina?" Gourry asked as they ate, his voice completely serious.

Lina swallowed a mouthful of dried meat before answering. "Yeah, but, first, we're going to search the common room again. I still can't figure out how those ghosts would've been able to get Zel out of there as fast they did without us noticing, not to mention completely trash the place in the process." Gourry nodded. That made sense.

After finishing, they began their second search of the common room. Both got down on their hands and knees, searching the floor for any crucial detail they may have missed the previous day. Or at least, that was what Gourry was doing. Lina's mind seemed unwilling or unable to focus on the task at hand.

The situation was too familiar for her liking. Once again, they were in a haunted building. Once again, it seemed like ghosts were trying to kidnap her friends. The déjà vu was almost spooky (no pun intended). Was this really a coincidence? Lina had never been one to believe in coincidences. But she had killed L, hadn't she? There was no way that the Mazoku-ghost hybrid could've survived a spell like the Ragna Blade… But what if she had? It wouldn't be the first time an enemy they thought they'd killed had come back to life.

_Now you're just being paranoid,_ Lina told herself firmly. _Rezo didn't really come back to life. L had to have been destroyed._ But the nagging doubt still persisted in the back of her mind.

She tried to refocus her attention back on her current mission. She scanned the hardwood floor, searching… She wondered what had happened to Zelgadis and Amelia. _Where could they have been taken? What's happening to them right now?_ It occurred to her that if this really _was_ like last time, then they could be… no! _Don't think like that, or you'll turn into Zel! _She bit back a laugh in spite of herself. Zelgadis had more than enough gloom and doom for all four of them without her adding to the angst, thank you very much. _Although Amelia might cancel him out. _The two of them were like yin and yang; complete opposites. Amelia was positive, energetic and idealistic, while Zelgadis was gloomy, serious, and depressingly realistic. Lina had always found it sort of funny that in spite of such major differences, they managed to be such close friends. Or maybe it was because of those differences…

_Damn it you two… why'd you have to go and get yourselves into this mess?_ She felt like a maid. The group was always getting into trouble. Why did it seem like she was always the one who had to get them out of it? _When things get hairy, just let Lina solve everything!_ Admittedly, _she_ was usually the reason things had gotten hairy in the first place. But this time it wasn't her fault, for once.

_Although I suppose it doesn't really matter right now. One way or another, we're all getting out of this place. Alive. _

"Hey, Lina, can I ask you a question?" Gourry broke her out of her reverie.

"Why would ghosts want to kidnap Zel and Amelia?" he asked.

"Uh, well, I'm not really sure," she admitted, "but I suppose there could be a lot be a lot of reasons."

"Like?"

"Uhhhh…" Lina thought about it for minute. "Well, when L took you and Gourry, me and Amelia ran into this ghost named Jeeves. Jeeves told us the reason L took you was because she thought one of you guys was her dead boyfriend or something like that. The story turned out to be a load of B.S., but it's possible something like that is going on here."

Gourry pondered this for a moment. "So the ghosts haunting this place are bisexual?"

Lina face-faulted. "What the-?! How d'you figure that?!" she shook her head. "On second thought, I don't wanna know. Anyways, it could also be that the ghosts are just psychotic and like kidnapping people."

There was silence for a few minutes as they continued searching. "Hey Lina, I have another question."

"Shoot."

"When a ghost tries to touch something solid, they go right through it, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well then how were they able to take Zel and Amelia?" he asked. "They would have to grab them, but how could they do that if the ghosts passed right through them?"

His question caught her off guard. "Well…. Sometimes, ghosts can become corporeal."

"Corpal- what?" He looked confused.

"Corporeal. It means they become solid had can touch stuff without assign through it," she explained.

"Oh…"

Suddenly maniacal laughter filled the room. Lina and Gourry were on their feet in an instant. In the far corner of the room was the innkeeper's wife.

"What the-?! What do you want?!" Lina demanded angrily, raising her hands to spellcasting position. Behind her she heard Gourry quietly draw his sword.

"You can't find them, can you?" the woman cackled.

"Where are Zelgadis and Amelia?" Gourry asked in a low but dangerous tone.

"You can't help them," the woman taunted. "You could search this entire house and never find them!"

"Why you-! Elmekia Lance!" Lina unleashed a beam of light at the woman, but she just disappeared. The spell dissipated harmlessly against the wall.

* * *

Amelia wandered aimlessly through the empty blackness that stretched out before her indefinitely. She wanted to scream her frustration. How long had she been here? An hour? A day? She had no way to tell. 

_How did I get here anyways?_ She couldn't remember. She knew she had been at that inn, and that she had gone to sleep, but nothing after that. She had just appeared here all of a sudden. _I wonder where the others are. _Had something similar happened to them? She hoped they were ok. _Of course they're ok! Justice always triumphs, right?_ But a small part of her remained doubtful.

What was this place anyways? She had no idea. She'd never seen anything like it before in her life. Suddenly, she spotted something off in the distance. She had trouble making it out, but it appeared to be a person, with long blonde hair. _Mr. Gourry?_ she wondered. It was hard to tell from this range.

She ran towards the figure, but as she got closer, she saw with a sinking feeling that it wasn't Gourry at all.

"L?!"

The blonde woman smirked. "Correct."

* * *

A/N: She returns! But... how?! L was destroyed, right? Right?! Heh, not teeeeeelllllllliiiiiiiiiiiing.

This chapter took a little to longer to write up than usual, since I got sidetracked writing "A View From Chaos" (which I'm quite proud of).

I've already got a good chunk of Part 7 written up, mostly because I wasn't sure if I should include it in this chapter. It took me a while to decide where to end this chapter.

Not much else to say, except R&R!


	7. Part 7

**Part 7**

Amelia gaped. "B-but how?! Miss Lina destroyed you!"

"Funny how that is," L replied nonchalantly. "There's a very long story there which I really don't feel like telling right now." She took a step towards her. Instinctively, Amelia raised her arms to spell casting position and started chanting.

Before she could finish, L raised a hand. Suddenly, Amelia felt exhaustion drag at every one of her muscle fibers. She collapsed onto all fours, shaking.

"I know you'd like to blast me to smithereens right now," L said in a mocking tone, "but it's not a very nice thing to do to people, especially so soon after running into them again."

"W-what are you d-doing to me?" Amelia gasped, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.

"Oh, nothing much," L replied cheerfully. "Just draining your life-energy." Everyone one of her limbs shaking, Amelia slowly struggled to stand up again. _Can't… let… her…beat…me…Justice… must…win…_ she repeated the mantra over and over again inside her head, as she rose unsteadily onto her feet.

"You can actually stand?" L sounded surprised, though there was a hint of admiration in her voice as well. "I must be going too easy on you."

The feeling of exhaustion intensified, and Amelia crumpled back to the ground again. Lying face down on her stomach, she mustered just enough strength to look back up at the blonde woman. "But… why?" she whispered, fighting the haziness which was starting to cloud the edges of her vision.

"I could explain it to you." Why did L's voice sound so far away? "But frankly, I don't think you'll stay conscious long enough."

* * *

If there had been any solid objects, Zelgadis would have kicked them. He _hated_ this place. It so dark, so empty! He felt like he would go insane from the never ending void. 

When he first noticed the gold flash in the distance, he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him. He remembered reading somewhere that when people were subjected to sensory deprivation, they would start to hallucinate after awhile. This empty black void probably wasn't very different from sensory deprivation. Maybe this was a hallucination his mind was conjuring up to keep from going crazy.

Zelgadis shrugged and began moving towards it. Even a hallucination was better than this.

But as he went in for a closer look, he saw it was a person. And not just any person.

"L?!"

She looked up at him and nearly laughed. Both his expression and reaction were almost identical to Amelia's. But her amusement was quickly replaced by annoyance.

"Oh, it's you. How inconvenient." She sounded annoyed, like he was some mildly irritating pest. He saw she was kneeling on the ground, holding one hand over the prostrate form of…

"Amelia?!" His eyes widened in shock. Then he glared at L. "What're you doing to her?!"

"Nothing that I won't do to you," she replied calmly. Zelgadis staggered, as he felt incredible weariness in every part of his body.

"Damn… you…" he panted. Frantically, he tried to muster the energy to cast a spell, but at the moment it was taking everything he had just to stay standing. And he knew he wouldn't be able to keep that up for very long either. Already he could feel his legs starting to give way…

"E-Elmekia lance!" L shrieked in agony as the beam of light ripped off her entire left arm and shoulder.

"D-damn you!" she hissed, staggering backwards. She clutched the part of her left side where her arm had been, though no blood came from the wound. Cursing, she disappeared.

Zelgadis sank to his knees and heaved a sigh of relief. Panting, he glanced off to his side. Amelia, supporting herself with one arm, smiled weakly and raised her index and middle fingers in a v-for-victory sign. Then she collapsed again.

"Amelia!" Filled with alarm, he crawled over to her as fast as he could, turning her face up.

"I-I'm ok," she panted, tried to sound reassuring. "Just a little tired. I'll be fine after in a bit." That was partially true at least. Already she could feel her strength slowly coming back to her.

Zelgadis suddenly picked her up and hugged her tightly against his chest, emotional barriers temporarily forgotten. At first Amelia was naturally surprised. It was unusual for him to be so… emotional like this. Her next impulse was to return the embrace, but her still-weary arms protested when she tried lifting them. So she settled for resting her head against his chest instead.

* * *

_Wham!_

Lina let out a scream of frustration as her foot connected with the wall. It rewarded her with a painfully stubbed toe. She hopped around on one foot, clutching her toe. She muttered a string of words and phrases not appropriate for young children.

"We've searched the whole expletive house, and we haven't found a expletive thing!" she ranted angrily. "How the hell did those expletive ghosts do it?!"

Gourry waited patiently for her to finish. He knew better than to interrupt. Doing so would only result in severe pain for him. Better to let her vent her anger on the wall rather than him.

"What could we be missing?" she asked herself frustrated as she plopped onto her bed.

"Well, what other places are there that they could've gone?" Gourry asked, deciding she'd calmed down to the point where she wouldn't fireball him for breathing too loud.

"That's the thing! There _isn't _anywhere else!" Lina slammed her fist against the wall.

"But…" Gourry sounded confused, "If there isn't anywhere else that the ghosts could've taken Zel and Amelia, then wouldn't that mean the ghosts wouldn't have been able to kidnap them in the first place?" Lina groaned. She _really_ was not in the mood to deal with his stupid questions!

Suddenly, a pensive look crossed her face. "Hmmmm… if they couldn't have been taken anywhere _physically,_ then perhaps…" she murmured quietly to herself. "Maybe we ruled out dimensional manipulation too quickly…"

Gourry gave her a puzzled look. "Dim- dimanip- what?"

"Dimensional manipulation, Gourry."

He gave her a blank look. "What's that?"

Lina sighed. The prospect of having to explain dimensional manipulation to Gourry was not very appealing. As likely as not, it go over his head. _I might as well try though._ "Do you remember Kanziel and Mazenda?"

He racked his memory. Lina was almost sure she could her the sound of a gerbil wheel squeaking inside his head. "Nope," he said cheerfully after a while.

Lina fell off the bed. _Typical…_ "The two Mazoku we fought in Seyruun? The ones who sealed my magic?" she offered.

Realization dawned on his face and he pounded his fist in one hand. "Oh yeah! Them!"

Lina nodded. "Do you remember how you, Zel, and Amelia were protecting Prince Phil while I was at the sorcery doctor's getting my magic back?" He nodded. "And do you remember how Mazenda attacked you all while I was still away?" He nodded again. Even he couldn't forget something like that. "Well, do you remember where she took you all to fight?"

He paused and thought about it for a moment before nodding a third time. "Yeah, it was this really weird place we could get out of."

"Well Gourry, that place was a pocket dimension."

"Oh, ok." He _looked_ like he sort of understood. "So you think Zel and Amelia could've been taken someplace like that?"

She nodded. "It's the only other explanation I can think of. But it was probably already existing pocket dimension. Although…" a troubled look crossed her face. "Something's not right. Even if they are being held in a pocket dimension, why haven't they broken out of it yet?"

"When Kanziel and Mazenda took us to that pocket dimension, Zel and Amelia couldn't break us out of there either," Gourry pointed out.

"If you mean that there's some sort of barrier in the pocket dimension that's trapping them there, forget it," Lina replied.

He looked confused. "Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, no ghost would be capable of casting a barrier that strong," she explained. "And even if the barrier was already there left over from whenever it was last used," she added, "Then the ghost wouldn't have been able to take them there in the first place." She shook her head. "Something else must be keeping them there."

"Why are you still here?" a new voice interrupted. "Why haven't you left this place?"

They both stood up, instantly alert. The innkeeper was suddenly standing at the door. He was gazing at them, almost sadly for some reason. "You cannot help your friends," he continued. "Leave while you still can."

Lina growled angrily. "Listen pal-!" she lunged at him, trying to grab him by the collar, but like his wife, he simply vanished.

"Please," she heard his disembodied voice plead as she stumbled out into the hallway. "Leave before it's too late."

"Not without Zel and Amelia!" she shouted, but there was no reply. Sighing she turned, and then froze. The room she had just left seconds ago was now completely trashed.

"G-gourry?" she called, panic starting to rise in her throat. She rushed into the room, afraid of what she would find.

He was gone.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of them," L murmured, surveying the three bodies lain out on the ground in front of them. 

Her companion gave her a surprised look. "What about the other one?"

L shook her head. "We won't need her for this, Maura."

"I see…" Maura said slowly, digesting this. "So let's get started then." She moved towards them, but L held out her only good arm to stop her. Maura gave her an incredulous look. "What? You aren't going soft, are you?"

"Of course not," L snapped back. "I know better then you what's at stake here."

"Well? Why the hold up, then?" Maura demanded impatiently.

"There may be a more… profitable and tasteful way of going about this," L replied.

"Oh?" Maura raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, why go to all the trouble of capturing those three?" She jabbed a finger at the three people on the ground.

L smiled cryptically. "Let's just say it's a matter of leverage."

* * *

A/N: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean. Couldn't resist quoting it though. I am uploading this late at night, really tired, don't feel like typing out a length author's note. 

As always, R&R please!


	8. Part 8

**Part 8**

"No…" Lina sank to her knees, as her mind struggled to process what had just happened.

They were all gone now. Zelgadis, Amelia, and now Gourry… She was completely alone. _Except,_ she thought bitterly, _That damned ghost responsible for all this. _It was probably watching her right at that moment, laughing at her.

The thought filled her with an oddly calm resolve. _Damn it,_ she thought angrily,_ I'm not gonna fall to pieces for that damn thing's entertainment._ Fists clenched, she rose to her feet. "I know you there!" she shouted. "Show yourself!" Her words echoed faintly through empty building; there was no response except the continued steady rainfall.

"Damnit!" she swore, whirling around. "Damu Bras!" The spell blasted a smoking hole in the wall. _Nothing like some good old fashioned rampant destruction when you need to blow off some steam, _she reasoned_ It's bad to keep your feelings all bottled up, right?_ "Damu Bras!" The door to her room was turned into a splintering wreck. _Besides, maybe this'll get their attention._

No sooner had she thought it, when an angry voice screeched "What in the nine hells do you think you're doing?!" Lina whirled around to face the innkeeper and his wife- the latter of whom looked apoplectic. "You're going to destroy the entire building!"

Lina snorted. "Why should it matter to you? You're dead."

The woman glared at her. "You don't have to remind us you know." Lina glared back.

"Does it look like I care?" she demanded. "Considering all you've put me through, you should be grateful if that's the worst I do to you. And that's a pretty big if, unless you tell me where my friends are."

"You don't scare us!" the innkeeper laughed. "We're dead. There's nothing worse you can do to us."

"Don't be so narrow-minded," Lina replied, smiling icily and thoroughly enjoying herself as she did her best impression of an evil badass villain. "You should never underestimate the abilities of the beautiful sorcery genius, Lina Inverse."

Sadly, this did not have the desired effect of instilling fear. So she decided to make good on her threats. "Elmekia Lance!" The two ghosts screamed as they were hit by a wave of white light.

"Wh-what the hell was that?!" the innkeeper panted as the light faded.

"An Elmekia Lance," she replied loftily. "and a pretty weak one at that. But since ghosts are purely astral being, it affects you a lot more than it would me. An Elmekia Flame would probably be more than enough to destroy both of you." She narrowed her eyes. "If you don't want me to test my theory out on you, then tell me what you've done with my friends."

"We can't," the innkeeper replied simply. "We have no idea where they are."

Now it was Lina's turn to be apoplectic. "WHAT THE-?! AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE, DO YOU REALLY EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!"

He winced. "I suppose not."

"You're not helping," his wife snapped. She turned and looked angrily at Lina. "We're telling the truth; we weren't the ones who kidnapped your friends, so we have no idea where they are."

"Well then who did?!"

"L."

* * *

"Echo!" Gourry cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled: "Why isn't there an ECHO here?" Nothing; just absolute silence. He dropped his hands to his sides with disappointment. "This place is boring." He wished Lina was here. Things were always more interesting when she was around. Even if she _did_ have a slightly warped definition of "interesting." 

And speaking of the sorceress, where was she anyway? _On second thought, where am I? How did I get here?_ He racked his brain, but couldn't remember. He wasn't too perturbed by this. If it was really important, he probably would've remembered.

He picked a random direction and started walking. Surely, he would eventually find someone or something that could tell him where he was and (more importantly) where to find Lina. _Besides, Lina's probably looking for me too,_ he reasoned. _I'll probably run into her._ He had a sudden mental image of the red haired sorceress calling him a jellyfish and beating him up for having gotten lost again. Gourry grinned. _Yeah, that's probably what she'd do. _

He walked more or less aimlessly for a while. He didn't bother keeping track of time. Random thoughts flitted through his head: _Lina promised to treat me to dinner a while back but she hasn't done that yet; if I ask her about it she'll probably say she already did and that he was a jellyfish brain for forgetting; what was so bad about being a jellyfish? They're cute and squishy!_

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of voices.

"Say it with more feeling this time!"

"This is stupid."

"Mr. Zelgadis! Speech making is one of the most important parts of being a true Warrior of Justice!"

"I still feel stupid."

"Amelia? Zel"

Amelia whirled around, and gave a joyful exclamation. "Mr. Gourry!" She ran up and hugged him. Zelgadis shot him a grateful look, though Gourry had no idea why. Amelia let go and looked at him questioningly. "Where's Miss Lina?"

Gourry shrugged. "Dunno."

Zelgadis stared at him. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

The swordsman shrugged again. "One minute I was with her at that... uh, wherever we were, and the next, I was here." He cocked his head at them. "So where are we anyways?"

It was Zelgadis' turn to shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine." No one said anything for a moment.

Suddenly Gourry tensed. "Someone's coming."

A split second after the words left his mouth, Zelgadis spotted a figure off to his left. It was a squat, balding, middle-aged man, dressed in stereotypical butler attire. He didn't recognize him, but Amelia obviously did.

"Mr. Jeeves!"

"Well well well, I never expected to see _you_ here young miss." Jeeves sounded as surprised as she was.

"You know this guy Amelia?" Gourry whispered.

She nodded. "He was a ghost who helped me and Miss Lina the last time we fought L." Zelgadis' ears perked at the mention of the blond spirit's name.

"L? You mean he was at her mansion?"

She nodded again. Zelgadis narrowed his eyes at the butler. So Jeeves had been involved the last time they fought L. Could it really be a coincidence that he just happened to cross paths with them again so soon after L's reappearance?

Jeeves coughed and spoke, preventing Zelgadis from asking Amelia for more details. "Hem, anyways, now that that's out of the way, what are you doing here, of all places?"

"Uh, well, we don't really know where 'here' is," Amelia admitted.

"Oh, that's simple. You're on the astral plane."

Amelia and Zelgadis stared. "We're what?!"

Gourry just looked confused. "I don't get it."

Zelgadis ignored him. "But, how did we get here?" Amelia shrugged.

Jeeves stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I might be able to shed some light on this. Perhaps you ought to sit down. It's a bit of a long story."

* * *

A/N: Has it really been a month since my last update? Sorry bout that folks! I've been sorta distracted lately. School's been really busy, with exams and teachers wrapping up for the end of the year. Plus, my muse for this fic keeps going AWOL. Not to mention that another plot bunny recently attacked me, so I've working on another story on the side as well (though it could be a while before you the first chapter) 

I'll try to update quicker, though I'm not making any promises.

A brief explanation for what Zel and Amelia were doing when Gourry ran into them: After recovering from their encounter with L, they found themselves with a lot of time on their hands and not much to do. So Amelia decided it was high time Zel learned how to give a proper Justice Speech. I think you can figure out the rest, lol.


End file.
